Cathy Donnelly

Cathy Donnelly's Blog

HOW I SPENT WHAT WAS LEFT OF MY SUMMER VACATION

by Cathy Donnelly,posted Aug 27 2012 12:00AM

Well I actually didn’t attend the Peach Festival, but I was very interested in the attendance since I think if Northeast Pennsylvania proves it can sustain such a thing they might come back year after year. My friend Alec went all three days. He is not a fan of Zac Brown (but I am) but took Zac’s pic form e anyway. Also he got to meet everyone and saw all their set lists.

He said Robert Randolph was the best of the entire weekend, BUT Sunday was also the most sparsely attended. WTF people? It’s ROBERT RANDOLPH and the FAMILY BAND for Gods sake! Alec also said that Tedeschi Trucks saved Saturday.

And he is pretty blasé when it comes to Warren Haynes, who played with practically every band there.

The one thing he was really sorry he missed was, when Zac Brown was on one stage, the Joan-Osborne band Trigger Happy, was playing on the other stage. I actually opened for Joan Osborne back in the 90’s when she was touring behind the “Relish” album, at the North Star Bar in Philly. Also got mugged the same night (not by Joan Osborne…in fact the kid can’t have been more than 9 or 10).

Then there’s the Philadelphia Folk Festival (known as “Fest”). It's usually either a mud fest or dust fest, this year was definitely MUD.

These aren’t my pictures either, I didn’t take too many, probably a reaction to the 80’s and 90’s when I would come back with 15 rolls of film. I was only there Saturday & Sunday, so I missed Mary Chapin Carpenter, and the Red Clay Ramblers, since I left after the Mississippi blues workshop.

Little Feat was AWESOME.

John Hiatt was pretty damn good too, even did a new song for us. I really like when they do that.

Steve Earle, maybe it was the sun in my eyes, I just wasn’t bowled over. And HE’s the main reason I went.

And Lucinda Williams, well, I’ve heard too many stories about her and the kind of person she is to really be able to like her on stage. But she did do “Changed the Locks” which is one of my all time favorite songs.

This is a picture by my dear friend Vince Salandra, whom I’ve known since my second Fest in 1986. He’s an awesome photographer and pretty hot for an Italian guy, to boot!